Indy 500 qualifying: Hurry up and wait

Sunday

The new qualifying procedure for the Indianapolis 500 turned out to be a hit for the fans, but it caused the drivers a great deal of agony.

The new qualifying procedure for the Indianapolis 500 turned out to be a hit for the fans, but it caused the drivers a great deal of agony.

"It's really tough on the nerves, for sure," said veteran Michael Andretti, who ended up with the 11th and final qualifying spot Saturday.

Fifteen drivers made qualifying attempts in the first 1 hour, 11 minutes of the six-hour session.

Then the wait began. Three hours passed before eventual polesitter Helio Castroneves made his first qualifying attempt of the day at 4:12 p.m. Indianapolis time. In the meantime, a few cars practiced but for the most part, the track was quiet.

And drivers fretted.

"Obviously a long wait here," said Dario Franchitti, who held the pole for nearly five hours. "I hated it. I'm glad the fans enjoyed it. They were getting into it. They had a great time, I think. It kept everyone on the edge of their seats all day - the guys going for the pole, also those in the bumping process. I really think it was a success. What a horrible, stressful day, though."

The consensus of the early qualifiers was that they would prefer not to make another attempt. But when they saw speeds starting to climb in the late afternoon, they changed their minds.

Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon, Jeff Simmons, Scott Sharp and Ed Carpenter all voided their morning qualifying times to make late afternoon runs. Castroneves and teammate Sam Hornish Jr. both made two late attempts, Hornish's back-to-back.

"You almost saw three consecutive runs because we were about ready to go do it again," said Hornish, who had near misses with the Turn 2 wall on both attempts. "That's the bad thing about the third run - it doesn't give you an opportunity. If you bang the wall on that last one, you're done. We figured it was probably best just to stay in impound."

Andretti was in line to make a second attempt because he was in the bump spot, but pulled out of the queue when he realized he could not be nudged out by any of the drivers behind him.

The new qualifying procedure drew high praise from Indy's most successful car owner, Roger Penske.

"Without the format we would not have been able to make two attempts with either car," he said. "I think the format was terrific and got some spirit back into what we used to see here in qualifying over the many years. These guys couldn't hear the cheers from the fans, but I'll tell you, they were standing up in their seats."

INDY IN HD: Coverage of the Indianapolis 500 race and qualifying on ABC and ESPN will be in high definition this year for the first time, via Sony's HD broadcast technology.

"One of the most frequent requests from our fans is a high-definition telecast of the Indianapolis 500, and we're thrilled to fulfill that demand," said Joie Chitwood, Indianapolis Motor Speedway president.

THERE ARE FOUR: The Indy 500 qualifying format is indeed so confusing I goofed up the explanation myself. There are four days of qualifying - two this weekend and two next. Today is the second day and Saturday is the third day, when the final 11 places will be set. Next Sunday is Bump Day.

MAYBE MORE: Some on-track accidents are just racing incidents, quickly forgotten the next day.

Some aren't.

Falling into the latter category is the recent skirmish between Kasey Kahne and David Stremme, which caused both of them to have a poor finish at Richmond.

The two appeared together, along with all the drivers from each of their respective teams, for a television commercial earlier this week and Kahne said he didn't want to mess up the day by getting into a fight.

"I stayed away from it and didn't talk to him," Kahne said. "More than likely we'll talk this weekend because the sponsors won't be around, but we'll figure it out and see what happens."

Kahne did say his problem with Stremme last week was not an isolated incident.

"I've always had a hard time racing with him," he said. "I don't know why. When I'm around his car, we just have problems. . . . I just thought he could have given a little more give and take. I ended up wrecking (Sunday) because I fought that. That part of it was my fault, but racing with David has never worked for me."

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